Student-made digital design campaigns help feed people

CENTER LINE — Last year, Center Line Public Schools officials implemented a new sixth grade class titled Academy Explorer at Wolfe Middle School.

The course was designed to give students the chance to learn about careers in digital design and communication. Students also strengthened their computer skills, sharpened their creativity and learned the value of teamwork.

Educators partnered with members of the Macomb County Planning and Economic Development marketing and communications team, who visited the school on a regular basis and taught the students many skills. The Wolfe Warriors worked in teams to create digital campaigns for two local nonprofit organizations that feed the hungry.

A digital design campaign is used to visually communicate and market a brand’s message through social media, websites and emails. The students used Google apps and Canva, different graphics, QR codes, eye-catching designs, color schemes, and a variety of texts and fonts.

Two groups of students developed digital design campaigns for Forgotten Harvest, located at 15000 W. Eight Mile Road in Oak Park. Forgotten Harvest provides fresh and nutritious food to local charities and families through a variety of programs.

Four groups of students made their own campaigns for Gleaners Community Food Bank, headquartered at 2131 Beaufait St., in Detroit. Gleaners serves Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Livingston and Monroe counties by providing food to nearly 400 partner soup kitchens, food pantries, shelters, schools and other agencies across the region.

On June 3, at the Center Line Administration Building, the Academy Explorer sixth graders presented their digital designs for Forgotten Harvest and Gleaners board members, community members, parents, district staff and the Macomb County Economic Planning and Development Team.

After an introduction, each group gave a presentation on their digital blogs and showcased their social media posts. The audience also participated in a “gallery walk” in which the students displayed their color flyers for the first time around the room.

The students visited both nonprofit locations to get a better understanding of how each charity operates and learned the many businesses that help support them including Ford, Kroger and the Detroit Lions. The digital campaigns focused on food distribution, the importance of nutrition, fundraising, how to avoid food waste, volunteer opportunities and more.

“We have spent time discussing, meeting and collaboratively thinking about articles to put into this flyer,” said student Marzia Chowdhury, whose team worked with Forgotten Harvest. “We are thankful to the volunteers and the staff members for spending their time with us and educating us.”

For instance, at the Forgotten Harvest Community Choice Market, clients must make an appointment in advance to shop for dairy, fresh produce, canned goods, protein meals and personal hygiene products. A $1 donation to Gleaners can feed a family three meals, according to one team’s campaign.

“Gleaners goes into local businesses and communities to help people in need by hosting monthly distributions in Center Line and hosting food drives,” student Issac Massey said. “Gleaners hosts these food drives to get the food that people can’t afford to families that need it the most.”

With help from student Muntaqim Sadid, Massey made a flyer for Gleaners’ recent cereal drive at Children’s Hospital of Michigan in Detroit.

“I used Canva elements,” he said. “I think it looks great.”

Massey called the digital campaign project “a great experience.”

This is the fourth group of students who completed the class. It’s a one-semester course.

“We’ve done this four times, and we always want to keep it fresh,” District Career Readiness Coach Kelli Phillips-Herrick said. “A lot of the work the students have done has been used on social media and on websites. They’ve promoted basketball events, New Year’s, football and wrestling through the year, the food distributions that we have with our district. They did a blog about why people should attend parent/teacher conferences. They’ve been working slowly as they learned this craft throughout the year and then those things are used in our district. These are skills they are going to use throughout their educational career and beyond.”

A group of students also produced a digital campaign for the upcoming Gleaners Community Food Bank mobile pantry, which will be at Center Line High School from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. June 22. Food is given in order of arrival, and all drivers asked to line up on Bush Avenue no earlier than 8:30 a.m. The high school is located at 26300 Arsenal St.